Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:00 am
Drugs in our water supply nothing new
No health care worker will be surprised by your March 10 headline, "Drugs found in nation's drinking water."
When I worked for four years at a local nursing home, I watched as nurses flushed unused medications down the toilets. If the patients discharged from the nursing home and their doctor did not write an order for them to take all of their unused medications, the preferred method to dispose of these pills was (and still is) to flush them into our public water system! I called the state board of pharmacy, and they could not help me stop this.
Now that I work at the local hospital, I watch daily as nurses squirt unused medications into the sink. I am not kidding! Drugs in liquid form come in small, single dose vials. Most individual doses of these medications (morophine, for example) are smaller than the dose in the vial. Whatever is "wasted" is sent down the sink. The pipes running from the hospital run the same place all of our pipes run.
We have become a medicated nation. We likely cannot eliminate the drugs from our water, but we could do more to minimize the situation. I hope the state board of pharmacy can help direct us to make better choices in how we - and our institutions - dispose of our unused medications.
Wendy Byrne, Corvallis
Yellow lights can be pedestrian hazards
Thursday morning, I witnessed a car accident on Highway 99 in south Corvallis that could have been avoided.
I am pleased with efforts to make south town safer, but I am afraid the new flashing yellow lights may actually cause more harm than good. I'm sure the intention of these lights is to prevent jaywalking across a busy highway and to help cars be more aware of pedestrians, but I witnessed an abuse of these lights today that could have caused serious injuries.
These flashing lights instantly turn on when someone presses the button. Most individuals would wait to see if traffic is slowing down before crossing. However, this individual pushed the button and crossed the street immediately, causing one lane of traffic to go from 35 mph to zero mph in less than two seconds. The car braked in time and did not hit the pedestrian, but this caused a rear-ending accident.
Incidentally, the pedestrian witnessed the accident, finished crossing the street with a smirk and did not even wait for the police to arrive. Conscientious pedestrians would wait before crossing such a busy road. But if a child (or, let's say, a self-absorbed adult) uses these lights with a false sense of security, then I'm afraid the lights are a disservice to our community.
What if the flashing yellow lights were replaced with traditional stop lights that could be triggered by a pedestrian?
This would allow drivers to receive adequate warning to stop, and provide pedestrians safer crossing.
Royce Ryker, Corvallis
Global warming skeptics were right
Letters and articles have lately been printed on the subject of global warming. The claims abound, but seldom agree, so that in the midst of this tumult of speculation and inquiry, many are left to contemplate Dr. Karl Popper's well-known caveat that all science is "forever tentative."
Still, as opinions clash as to whether or not the globe is warming, I find myself more inclined to question not whether the globe is warming, but whether such warming is anthropogenic (human-caused).
In fact, the evidence of global warming is beyond dispute. What is open to debate, however, is the source of this warming trend. Witness climate expert Dr. David Douglas, who has written that "the observed pattern of warming … does not show the characteristic fingerprint associated with greenhouse warming." Thus, he says, "the inescapable conclusion is that the human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming." (www.thefeather.com/?pagearticles&id54245).
And a May 2007 Canada Free Press article entitled "Climate Momentum Shifting: Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming Now Skeptics" reaches the same conclusion.
Finally, even Weather Channel founder John Coleman has dubbed anthropogenic global warming "the greatest scam in history," and takes umbrage at the "rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming." (http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/comments_about_global_warming/).
Kevin Taylor, Corvallis
'Swiftboat' revving up against Obama
Well, it looks like Barack Obama got Swiftboated! His opponent was able to turn his legislative experience into no experience, and to take a statement by a staff member out of context to make him into a double-talker and a liar. It worked very well! The "3 a.m. phone call" seemed to have worked, too, but that's a slippery slope, providing fodder for the Republicans, if Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic candidate.
Actually, Obama has a good legislative record, being responsible for important legislation in ethics reform, loose nukes control and disaster relief. The two candidates' bills and amendments in the 109th and 110th Congresses are about equal in number, and Obama's are arguably more substantive.
This Swiftboat operation may be in the best interest of both candidates. Hillary got some badly needed momentum and has shown that she has the brass to attack the opposition and invade foreign countries when deemed necessary. Obama got a good lesson in what awaits him when the race gets hot, if he wins the nomination. He's a quick learner, and this may be the lesson he needed.
What we must wait to see is whether the Democrats want a president who is a fighter, or one who wants to bring people and countries together. There are people on both sides on this, but one seems like past elections, and the other the hope for a different kind of future.
John Wolcott, Corvallis